WASHINGTON — Joey Meneses homered and drove in three runs, and the rebuilding Washington Nationals handed the playoff-contending Milwaukee Brewers their fourth straight loss, 5-3 on Monday night.
Lane Thomas had a pair of RBI singles for Washington, which has won seven of 11 overall and eight of its last nine at home.
Joey Wiemer homered for the Brewers, who began the night a half-game behind Cincinnati in the NL Central and tied with Miami for the second wild card.
Both teams made moves ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. Washington dealt infielder Jeimer Candelario to the Chicago Cubs for two minor leaguers shortly before the game. Candelario is hitting .258 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs while playing on a one-year, $5 million deal.
“They lost a good teammate, but they stepped up tonight and played really well,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.
Soon after the game began, Milwaukee acquired Mark Canha and cash from the New York Mets for minor league pitcher Justin Jarvis, the Brewers’ second attempt to bolster their offense. Milwaukee picked up first baseman Carlos Santana from Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Manager Craig Counsell was looking forward to getting Canha in the lineup.
“He’s probably going to play a lot of right field and that’s going to move Sal (Frelick) to some center field,” Counsell said. “We’ll have to kind of mix and match with the outfielders. We have the DH spot, obviously, (and) that’s going to be in play, too.”
Washington went ahead in the seventh with three runs against Elvis Peguero (2-4). Thomas tied it with a one-out single, and two batters later, Meneses blooped a broken-bat single to center to score two runs.
Jordan Weems (2-0) recorded the final out of the seventh, Mason Thompson worked the eighth and Kyle Finnegan handled the ninth for his 15th save.
“It gives us confidence knowing we traded a great ballplayer and a great teammate, and despite that we went out there and still performed and had a good game and were able to pull off the victory,” Meneses said through a translator. “It says that this team is still very good and very competitive.”
Meneses led off the second inning with his eighth homer, and Milwaukee tied it when Christian Yelich and William Contreras ripped back-to-back doubles to right with two outs in the third.
Washington went up 2-1 when Thomas singled home CJ Abrams in the fifth, and the Brewers answered with Andruw Monasterio’s RBI single to chase Nationals starter Jake Irvin in the sixth. Irvin allowed two runs and struck out two in 5 1/3 innings.
Wiemer homered off Jose A. Ferrer in the seventh to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.
Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes, starting against Washington for the first time in his career, allowed two runs in six innings while striking out five. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner went 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA in six July starts.
“They were swinging the bat early,” Burnes said. “This is a really aggressive offense, a lot of young guys that came out and were going to swing and put the ball in play, and they did that. Fortunately, only one walk hurt me tonight, but I have to do a better job of getting ahead in the zone, especially when a team is that aggressive.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: RHP Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) will make a rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Nashville. … RHP Jake Cousins was claimed off waivers by Houston.
Nationals: Placed RHP Trevor Williams on the bereavement list and recalled RHP Hobie Harris from Triple-A Rochester. … RHP Hunter Harvey (elbow strain) played catch Monday. … RHPs Carl Edwards Jr. (shoulder inflammation) and Tanner Rainey (Tommy John surgery) will throw simulated games Tuesday. … RHP Thaddeus Ward (shoulder inflammation) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Freddy Peralta (6-8, 4.46 ERA), who matched his career high Wednesday with 13 strikeouts over six shutout innings against Cincinnati, starts the middle game of the three-game series.
Nationals: RHP Josiah Gray (7-8, 3.27) faces Milwaukee for the first time. Gray has made multiple starts against every other NL club besides Washington in his three-year career.
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